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Assault
Against a Security Officer
By Jeff Moore
Hello to all you eager ASSIST readers. It is time for another article and fortunately I do not have any serious incidents to report to you. So, in this article, I would like to talk about some ideas that I have that we as owners and managers can do to help reduce the chances that our officers out in the field will be assaulted. In other words, I am saying we need to be more proactive for our own officer’s safety.
The first thing we can teach our officers, out in the field, is that we are not the police. We are security officers. There is nothing wrong with being security. We serve a great purpose.
We are needed just as much as the police but in a different capacity. Our officers need to understand that they do not have to stand there and take a beating or even worse, a bullet. That is not our function. We are there to deter crime, report and observe and if necessary intervene but only if armed and trained to do so and if the situation does not call for back up. If it does, you must teach your officers to retreat, step back and call for help or 911. Then report and observe until the Calvary arrives. So many of the assaults I have seen or heard of seem to happen due to the officer thinking they had to react immediately. That is not always the case.
The next thing we need to teach our security officers is that we need to carry ourselves with a certain amount of command presence. You may ask how we do that. First, you have to start with their appearance. How well are your officers groomed? Are they clean shaven, hair neat and trimmed, nails cut and hygiene okay? Next, let’s look at their uniform. Is it clean? Tailored? Pressed? Shoes shined? I have observed so many officers that are wearing unkempt uniforms and a badge that looks like it came out of a bubble gum machine. The uniform is such an integral part of your officer’s command presence. Step up owners and managers. Show your officers the importance of how they appear to others. Spend a little extra to get a uniform, badge and patch that looks more professional. It could save their life.
Our security officers should be able to diffuse and reduce their chances of getting into a fight or allowing one to ensue by 99% if they are just taught some simple verbal judo techniques. Verbal Judo is the art of taking the aggressor and getting them to calm down by simply talking to them calmly and reasonably while not using any threatening body language thus making the aggressor forget why he or she was even mad to begin with. So many times when we are talking to someone and they are angry it tends to get us angry. Verbal judo teaches not to let that happen and the techniques are truly amazing.
If your verbal judo skills fail and it is that 1% time, have you taught your security officers some basic self defense? My guess is probably not. Many company owners are probably of the mindset that if I teach my security to fight, they will end up doing some karate chop, killing someone and getting me in a large lawsuit. If you teach your officers basic self defense, chances are they will use those skills of self defense to get out of the situation and call 911 or get away. All our officers need to know how to get out of a bad situation and especially if they are armed, how to retain their weapon while in that brief but critical life and death struggle.
In closing, I have listed just a few ideas that can help keep your officers safe and better yet, may save their life. It is not hard to find TCLOSE instructors more than willing to teach these skills to your officers at a very low cost. At my company, Top Gun Security, we prefer to pay the instructor by the hour and have as many students as we can come to the training session at no cost to them except the time they put into it. You would be amazed at how many officers attend who want to be better trained and a safer officer.
Remember our goal is “to go home safe at the end of every shift.” It is my hope that all of you will get proactive in the safety of your security officers.
Until next issue, stay safe, alert and vigilant.
Jeff Moore
State Chairperson - “Assault Against a Security Officer”
ASSIST State Board Vice President
Chairperson, LEAPS Houston, TX
Executive Vice President - ASSIST Gulf Coast Region
Blue Moon Investigations Security & Protection
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